Press Release

“The Time Thief” is a metaphore of being. It refers to the documentation of the process by whichinspiration is gained, intentionally, or unintentionally, in life, and in time. “Prophecies and Fragments” is acommentary on contemporary culture. The underlying theme of these creations is fragmented andprophecies of the apocalypse.-Ye Yongqing 2014

Completed between 2010 – 2014, each of the 110 works that make up “The Time Thief – Prophecies &Fragments” embodies their own character and thesis. For this exhibition, Ye Yongqing has split up theworks into several groups based on his own feelings and inspirations and will present them in a dramaticinstallation view – emphasizing the transitional state of the works, their interaction and relativity witheach other as well as separating and narrating the artist’s own fragmented vision and experiences overthe past 4 years.Lv Peng has once said: “Ye Yongqing has always been a poet, and has always injected his poetry into hispaintings and images. Therefore, if we use a Western methodology to interpret this artist’s works, wewould lose a key perspective. Chinese contemporary art is constantly evolving, regardless of howcomplicated and tedious this evolution is, one thing we can be sure of, is that we need art that is based onthe realistic living world of the artist, as well as their inherent cultural background, spirit, andsophistication”. Ye Yongqing loves to travel. He has said: “It’s true that travelling around the world has opened up a newwindow for me: how big is this world? How tall are the mountains? How long is this road? How open isthe heart? I’ve gradually learned to open up my heart and make new friends, using a calm and easyattitude to look upon life and art”. He has also said “In my home, amongst the mountains and waters ofDali, the rustic, cultural customs are still being passed on till today. I refer to it as my home, but notmerely as a geographic reference, but also it is the home of my own spirit; reinforcing my attitude as wellas my love for life”. Lyricist Yao Qian once said: “Ye Yongqing is like a parallel walker; walking his own path at his own pace and keeping his distance. Unchanged is his romantic elegance. One could always sense that his artistic language is like a soft-spoken person, speaking effortlessly using a very casual vocabulary, but in just the right temperament to clearly trace the outlines. It does not affect the reader’s attitude or emotions, but make their hearts flutter!” Cultural Observer Huang Liaoyuan: “Basically, Ye Yongqing does not use structure, or any reliable form of people or objects for his expression. This is his transcendent skill: as effortlessly as a reed crosses the river, sailing with the wind, as clouds slowly covering a mountain, his paintings are driven by a force that is deeply rooted within Ye Yongqing’s delicate brushstrokes. He organizes and cleans up his own disorderly chaos, and his canvases are infused with enlightened and romantic atmosphere; apropos for any occasion, and any one.”In preparation for Longmen Art Projects’ presentation of “The Time Thief – Prophecies & Fragments YeYongqing Works 2010-2014”, Ye Yongqing has selected several entries from his own journal tocompliment the thesis of the exhibition. Below is an entry from “I Touch My Own Image_Prophecies &Fragments_Journal Excerpts I”：In recent years, it seems that we’ve been living in a persistent countdown; bombardedby apocalyptic prophecies, social media, social unrest, and the explosion of digitalinformation. These bits and fragments have become the basic backdrop to survival.Amongst all the chaos, I spontaneously documented and compiled these fragments intoover a hundred small paintings, each describing an individual story, and yet, relevant toeach other. Someone once said, “Artists are thieves of time!” plucking bits and piecesfrom time, stealing moments of leisure from a tireless existence, creating culture – anon-physical product. Therefore, the underlying thesis of these works is leisurely art;produced from time, but not actually spending or taking up time. Leisurely time is likeempty space within a room. Painting becomes a means to kill time, to pass the time, fromthese small gaps within a lifetime, to gain freedom, knowledge, and vision for one’s mindand soul.

Shanghai Longmen Art Projects is honored to present “The Time Thief – Prophecies & Fragments YeYongqing Works 2010-2014”, The 110 individual canvases do not simply document Ye’s fragmentedcanvases, but as Lv Peng said: “We now see a contemporary artist who has inherited an attitude fromancient scholars: everything is art, nothing is art, the most important truth is inherent in art, she sustainsour lives”.